Advantages

Disadvantages

Protects your plants

Certain plants do not the cold, in fact most of them don't but the main issue that could kill your plants is frost. Unfortunately I do not have a greenhouse big enough to move all my plants in and some of the pots are quite heavy. In order to keep my plants protects I have three haxnicks Small Easy Fleece Jackets. I use them for my ferns and a small olive tree. The fleece jackets are not like the fleece that most people know, it is not a soft fluffy material but something similar to plastic bags. Fleece is made from polypropylene fibres and is ideal for allowing light, air and water through. Unlike regular plastic sheeting (cheaper option) it regulates the temperature and allows the plants to breath as well as gives them protection.

==Coverage==

The little jackets are designed to cover small to medium patio pots. One end is sealed and the other has a draw string fastener to keep the bag in place. They are easy to pop on and easily than the fleece sheets that involve you making a frame to fasten them. The only plant that causes me a bit of grief is a small palm as I have to fold the leaves carefully inside, I doubt whether next year it will even fit in this bag anymore. These are really easy to manage, once the danger of frost is over you can fold up the bags and reuse them the following year. Or in the case of this year, you will be bagging them and then un-bagging them every two weeks! It is not advisable to leave the bags on for the duration of the winter as it can make the plants too damp.

The fleece material is thicker than some of the other fleeces I have encountered before but it still rips just as easily. You need to take care putting them off as a stray branch can penetrate the delicate fibres and cause a tear. I have had to throw one of the fleeces away as I clumsily broke it but I have three good ones left and they are really good. The fleece does last well in the elements although if snow is quite heavy it should be brushed off as it will not do the plant any favours to be underneath this.

==Price==

You can get a four pack for around £6 and they are stocked in garden centres.

==Overall==

Treat these well and they will look after your plants.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Plants are expensive so it is better to protect them rather than lose them.

Plants are much like human beings, some are hardy and can withstand the hard frosts and many just cannot cope with the bitterly cold frosty nights that come with our Winters. Only a couple of nights ago I had to put a couple of outdoor pots into the greenhouse because they had forecast a hard frost.I suppose in an ideal world everything that looks as if it could be tender should be planted as near to a wall or a fence as possible so that it is at least semi-protected.But the garden centres have such an assortment of plants that it is quite easy to get carried away and buy what you fancy rather than what could be seen as a sensible purchase.

If any of your plants get hit by a hard frost you will spot it a mile away, the frost drains the life from the plant and the leaves become black and wizened. Some plants can recover from frostbite but sadly many just give up the ghost.

Ideally you should be able to move pots with tender specimens into the greenhouse so that they are not exposed to the hard frost but I only have so much floor space and some of my tender plants are planted directly into the soil anyway.The Haxnicks fleece jackets are a good way of protecting your plants and the smaller fleece jackets cost £8 for four so you cannot even say that they are expensive.

One small Haxnicks fleece jacket will easily cover the contents of a normal sized patio pot.The fleece jackets are made of green 30gsm polypropylene fleece and they feel soft to the touch.At one end of the jacket there is a wide seam that has a string threaded through it, once the fleece jacket is securely in place over the top of the pot then you can lightly pull the string and tie it so that the plant and stems are completely protected.It would be east to assume that the plants would be deprived of light and moisture when they are covered with the Haxnicks jacket but the lightweight fleece lets light and moisture through so the plant can continue to grow healthily. The polypropylene jacket is so light that it would never harm or squash the plant that it covers.

If you watch the weather forecast and they announce that there is going to be a heavy frost that night then all you need to do is wait until later on in the day and cover your tender plants with the Haxnicks jackets. In the morning when the frost has fully cleared then the fleece jackets can be whipped off and stored away until the next frosty night. The fleece jackets will feel very cold and damp when you take them off of the plants, I like to make sure that I air them off before I fold them up and store them.

Haxnicks produce a whole range of frost and harsh weather protection for plants, the fleece jackets come in a few different sizes and Haxnicks also make a jute plant jacket.Haxnicks have recently added a very posh designer fleece jacket to their range, it is a far larger jacket that comes in two different sizes and it has Autumn leaves printed on it. Those larger fleece jackets are ideal to cover hanging baskets or to protect your favourite shrubs from the chilly weather.I am considering buying one of the largest to cover my Bay tree, although my home-made effort seems to keep it out of harms way.If you have any tender plants that are outdoors and need some form of protection then the Haknicks fleece jackets are the ideal thing.